Monster
by can't.save.this.sinking.ship
Summary: And these?" Naruto asked shakily, pointing at his whiskered scars. "I think they're beautiful." Naruto has a nightmare. Sasuke brings him back to reality. ONESHOT, angst, fluff, COMPLETE


**AN:** Another little oneshot for ya. Kinda angsty, kinda fluffy. Let me know what you think!

**Pairing:** Sasu/Naru

**Warnings:** light kissing

**Disclaimer:** Not mine

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_The sun was warm on his face, and the cool breeze was making his blonde curls twirl in a dance about his eyes._ _He felt utterly relaxed, like he was floating. He stepped out of he and Sasuke's apartment and began making his way to the ramen stand_, _expression serene and pleased in the morning light._

_As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of Kiba walking in his direction. _

_"Hey!" he greeted, waving happily_ _at his friend._

_"Don't talk to me," Kiba spat, not even stopping. "Freak."_

_"W-wha?" Naruto stuttered, startled. He caught the brunette's arm. "Kiba–_

_The other boy took him by the shoulders and slammed him against the alley wall. "Don't you _ever _touch me, you monster!"_

_He pressed him once, roughly, into the wall, then let him go and stormed away._

_Naruto blinked, utterly flabbergasted_ _and deeply stung. "What the hell's going on?" he muttered to himself. He sighed, shook it off, and began to walk towards the ramen stand once again, resolving to forget the odd incident._

_As he walked, he started to notice that the people around him were staring, snickering– some were even pointing and jeering. He was beginning to feel like he'd been thrown back in time, back to when the town had hated him, before he'd finally gained respect in their eyes just months ago._

_What had changed? Why was this happening?_

_He floated on, feeling like it was all almost surreal; just before he stepped into Ichikaru's, a soda can was chucked at his head– he ducked just in time_ _and rushed into the store._

_"Ichikaru," he gasped, running up to the familiar man. "W-what's wrong with everyone? Why–_

_"You– get out," his old friend growled warningly. "I never want to see your face in here again."_

_"B-but–but– _

_"I said get out!" Ichikaru roared, furiously pointing at the open door. _

_Naruto recoiled as if slapped and back-pedalled out of the store, tears stinging his eyes and panicked gasps rising in his throat. He began to run through the streets, desperate to find someone, anyone, who didn't hate him. _

_"S-Sakura!" he choked, seeing the pink-haired nin chatting with Ino near the training grounds. _

_She turned around, and Naruto's face fell at the disgusted expression she was wearing. _

_"What do you want, freak?" she asked derisively. _

_"It's–it's me, Naruto," the blonde said desperately. "We've b-been friends for–for forever, Sakura– don't you remember?"_

_Ino snickered loudly into her palm. "Sakura, he actually thinks you two are _friends_," she whispered loudly. _

_"We-we are!" Naruto exclaimed, looking to Sakura for support._

_Sakura laughed then, too. "God, how pathetic. Come on, Ino, let's go."_

_"Oh, God," Naruto breathed once they were gone, knees threatening to buckle underneath him. "What's happening?"_

_He looked up, eyes shining, and saw Kakashi and Iruka walk up to join Sakura and Ino, most likely to watch over their training session._

_Naruto's eyes latched onto his father figure of several years: Iruka. Iruka would never hate him._

_As Sakura and Ino began to spar, Naruto sprinted over to the side of the field, where Kakashi and Iruka were sitting._

_"H-hey, 'Ruka," he greeted, panting a little, trying to behave as normally as possible even with his throat throbbing painfully in his neck._

_Iruka looked up at him, eyes clear and warm– and for a second, Naruto thought all of the past hour since he'd left his house had been in his head– _

_– and then the man's face melted into hatred, eyes darkening and lips twisting in a snarl, and Naruto felt his heart crack a little in his chest. _

_"Well? You gonna just stand there, looking like an idiot?" Kakashi asked lazily, looking up from his book to glare at the blonde. "It's obvious no one wants you here, so why not just leave?"_

_And that was it. Naruto broke. He turned around and took off running, blindly, tears streaming down his face and sobs heaving from deep in his gut. He sprinted back through the town, flinching at every wayward insult and jeer, and didn't stop until he finally made it back to he and Sasuke's apartment, where his lover's car was now parked out side._

_Sasuke was home early from his mission. Thank God._

_Naruto ran inside, body convulsing with the emotional torrent flooding through him. _

_"Sasuke," he choked out. "Sasuke, where are you? I need you."_

_His lover walked out from the bedroom, looking slightly bewildered. He caught sight of Naruto, and then his eyes narrowed, and Naruto's heart absolutely _broke _in his chest._

_"Sas–Sasuke, please, no," he whispered, raggedly. "Not you too."_

_"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Sasuke asked, voice dangerously low._

_"It's–it's _our_ house!" Naruto cried, heaving. "We love each other, remember? We've been together for– _

_"What makes you think I'd live with a monster like you?" Sasuke snorted, looking _amused _by the whole affair. "Let alone _love _you. Who _could_?"_

_Naruto was barely aware of his knees buckling underneath him. "Why are you doing this?" he sobbed. "Why? I love you, Sasuke, please..."_

"Naruto."

"Why...mn, Sasuke, please...look at me, please, don't..." Naruto gasped, tossing and turning, tears dribbling steadily from his clenched eyes and down his flushed cheeks.

"Naruto, _wake up!"_

The blonde's upper body suddenly snapped upwards, nearly colliding with Sasuke's, who'd been leaning over him but quickly recoiled at the other's sudden movement. Naruto bent at the waist and sucked in air, body shaking all over in leftover fright.

"Calm down, it was just a dream," Sasuke said cautiously to the gasping blonde.

Naruto turned to look at him, eyes wide and tortured. "Sasuke?" he whispered, reaching out to touch him as if he didn't believe he were real.

"I'm right here, dobe," Sasuke soothed.

Naruto's face scrunched in pained disbelief. "You d-don't hate me? Don't think I'm a monster?"

Sasuke sighed, unsurprised at the revelation of what his lover had been having a nightmare about– it was an often reoccurring dream.

"Of course I don't," he muttered. "You had a nightmare. Everything's fine. Let's just go back to sleep."

Naruto sniffled, bit back a lingering sob. "Okay," he whispered.

Sasuke laid back and watched the blonde's back shudder, once, twice, before he reached up and tugged him down as well. Naruto immediately curled up against him, hiding his face in the crook of his lover's shoulder as his ravaged mind and heart tried desperately to crawl out of the dream and back into reality.

"Tell me," Sasuke quietly prompted. "It'll help."

"It s-started out the same," Naruto began, voice pained. "Everyone h-hated me again. They c-called me monster. Disgusting. Said they didn't want me there."

Sasuke ran a hand through the blonde locks, sifting through the soft strands before sliding his fingers down to knead the tense skin of the back of his lover's neck.

"Kiba nearly punched me when I tried to touch him," the blonde continued bitterly. "Ichikaru kicked me out of the store. Sakura and Ino– they called me pathetic, for thinking...for thinking they were my friends." His voice broke a little, and Sasuke pulled him gently closer. "Then Iruka...Iruka– when I walked up to him, he, he looked at me like...like I was the most...vile thing, he'd ever seen."

Sasuke felt tears spill onto his collarbone, and he automatically whispered some soothing reassurance into his lover's ear. "It's okay," he murmured. "It wasn't real."

"It felt like it was," Naruto insisted, shuddering. "And you...you were the worst. I came home– I felt like my world was crashing down around me, and I just–j-just wanted _you_– and you–you came out of the bedroom, a-and–a-and–

"Take your time," Sasuke said gently when he heard the other's breathing become dangerously fast.

Naruto exhaled shakily and took a moment to calm himself. "You came out of the bedroom," he began again, softly, voice barely above a whisper. "And y-you said wanted me to leave. B-but I told you–that–that we loved each other, and t-that I lived there too. You–y-you said that you didn't– you didn't know who could possibly live with a m-monster like me, let alone–let alone ever_ l-l-love_–"

"Naruto," Sasuke sighed, wincing as the blonde began to tremble in earnest against his chest. He wrapped his arms tighter around the other boy and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "You know that's not true."

Naruto hiccuped. "I know, but... it was just so awful," he whispered. "It really felt like–like you– like _everyone–_just... _hated _me. It was like... like before, all over again."

"Well it's over now," Sasuke murmured. "It was just a bad dream–that's all."

Naruto pulled back, looked at him with wide, bright eyes. "It was, wasn't it? You still love me?"

Sasuke looked to the side and muttered, "Of course I do, dobe."

"_Why_?" the blonde asked, and his voice was lost and vulnerable.

Sasuke sighed and leaned back so he could look his lover in the eyes, then said simply, "Because you're you."

Naruto reached up with shaking hands to point at his whiskered-scars. "And these?"

Sasuke slid his hand down to cup the back of Naruto's head and brought him close so that he could press his lips to the other boy's cheeks; he kissed every scar, then finally pressed his mouth to Naruto's, in a brief, chaste kiss. "They're _part_ ofyou," he murmured against his lover's lips.

Naruto felt tears prick his eyes and he leaned forward, burying his face into his lover's neck. "W-what about...?"

Sasuke, knowing exactly what he was referring to, ghosted his finger's up the blonde's hips to rest on his seal, fingers absently stroking the hot skin.

He leaned forward so his lips were against Naruto's ear and whispered, "I think it's beautiful."

Naruto went utterly still. "I love you." A breathy pant.

"I love you too," Sasuke murmured in response. "Every part of you."

And then Sasuke proceeded to show Naruto exactly which parts of him he liked best.

THE END


End file.
